Santorum: Bella is now an NRA life member

Bella Santorum, Rick Santorum’s ailing 3-year-old daughter, is now a life member of the National Rifle Association.

The ex-candidate announced at the NRA’s annual meeting here Friday that he and his wife Karen have long been life members.

“Now Bella is a life member of the NRA,” he said. “And I hope it’s a long life!”

Karen Santorum did not attend a women’s luncheon as scheduled because she wanted to stay back in Washington with their daughter, who was hospitalized last weekend.

“She’s still not nearly 100 percent,” the former senator said of Bella.

Santorum sounded very much like someone who plans to run for office again in his 16-minute speech, but he also tipped his hat to the presumptive Republican nominee.

In discussing the need to defeat Obama, he cited Romney’s warning in a speech here earlier that Obama winning reelection could lead to more anti-gun Supreme Court justices.

Santorum dismissed concerns that some might not be as good as others, alluding to Romney’s past support for gun control without mentioning it.

“We’ve got to win in this general election,” he said. “I pledge to you that even though I’m no longer in this race, I will be all-in between now and November to make sure that we elect Republicans and conservatives up and down the ticket.”

He said he hopes that voters will get to hear more from Karen in the future, making clear he plans to remain a force in the party.

“When it comes to gun rights advocates, I have to say, I don’t hold a candle to my wife,” Santorum said. “I am a hunter and a gun owner, but she owns way more guns than I do. And she has a chance to shoot ‘em more often than I do.”

Santorum told the crowd that he went hunting in Iowa before the caucuses and did town halls at target shooting ranges.

He sounded way more comfortable and relaxed talking to the group than Mitt Romney, who spoke earlier in the afternoon.

Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, said he’s gone hunting with Santorum and expressed confidence that “he’ll never stop fighting” even after losing.

“Millions of Americans were disappointed, but he handled the disappointment with dignity and grace,” he said.